FedEx delivered the set of my 'new' restored vintage McIntosh MC30s mono amplifiers today that I purchased from Yves Beauvais at Vintage Vacuum Audio after hearing my friend Leo's MC30s that impressed me so much.  I unpacked the Mac's and set them up in the system with my Westminster Royal Duelund Special Edition loudspeakers, and put... Read More »

I started my listening this evening with the 45 RPM version of the Shelly Manne & Bill Evans album Empathy from Analogue Productions and I've just been blown away. Certainly a lot of the credit goes to this wonderful album, Empathy, which I've reported on before, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention... Read More »

It was another mighty fine Vintage Sunday at Jeff's Place, with Ron (back), Pete (middle), and Leo (front) stopping by. The reason Leo has such a big smile is because he just bought a pair of beautifully restored vintage McIntosh MC30 mono amplifiers from Yves Beauvais at Vintage Vacuum Audio and they were sounding absolutely stunning on the... Read More »

The New Valve Order SPA one phono equalizer review is now live at Positive Feedback Online here! A few snippets from the review: "Back in Issue 57 I introduced you to a talented fine audio constructeur, Andreas Hadjiminas, working out of Nicosia, Cyprus. Andreas is one of the brightest new lights in the firmament of vacuum tube... Read More »

Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles is now live at Positive Feedback Online here. Chapter 10 features the Acoustic Revive RL-30 Demagnetizer for LPs and it works great! This premium demagnetizer is both beautiful and effective, with the only downside being that it is limited to 300 units worldwide, so if you want one... Read More »

I just finished up writing Chapter 10 of The Acoustic Revive Chronicles and submitted it to the ye olde Editors Dave & David of Positive Feedback Online for publication in the very near future. I always have had fun writing about the products from Acoustic Revive, and Chapter 10 was no exception. In fact a... Read More »

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a nice weekend! I was out of commission part of this week as a victim of a stomach bug that's been going around, so you could say this week is ending a lot better than it started. Last weekend was an awesome vintage weekend of listening to Ron’s quad of... Read More »

It was an awesome Sunday of fun and games listening to vintage Hi-Fi gear here at Jeff's Place. On the menu was a fine selection of vintage vacuum tubes for a little tube rolling in the McIntosh MC240, a Crown 800 professional portable reel-to-reel deck, a beautiful Marantz 8 stereo amplifier, and some mighty fine... Read More »

Yesterday I posted in Today's Fresh Catch about the spade terminal adapters for vintage McIntosh amplifiers with terminal strips that I found and purchased on eBay. While the price was right at slightly less than $10 USD, the performance and design of the adapters was not really up to what I wanted for use with... Read More »

Since I bought my 50 year old vintage McIntosh MC240 amplifier I've been thinking about how best to connect speaker cables to it. Given that the Macs back then used terminal strips instead of binding posts, it's a bit of a challenge to attach modern speaker cables like the bi-wire Panatela for Tannoy Westminster Royal... Read More »

I just got home from a terrific bicycle tour of the Seattle area led by my friend Chad (below). We covered over a hundred miles and saw lots of amazing sites, drank some awesome microbrew beers, and ate some incredible food. (A travel post shall follow shortly) Waiting for me when I got home was... Read More »

The Duelund-WRSE Project has been truly exciting, both in working through developing the external Duelund crossovers, and also hearing from those of you who are working on your own projects. Frank just finished up his Duelund-WRSE Project, took some great photos, and wrote it all up  to share with all of us. Thank you Frank!... Read More »

I just got home from a 26 mile bicycle ride and walked down to my mailbox, and there waiting for me was the July 2013 issue of Stereophile. As I thumbed through the issue I was delighted to see that Michael Fremer wrote about the New Valve Order SPA-II phono equalizer that is being imported to... Read More »

Here’s what’s in my current review queue and what you can expect to see reviewed at Positive Feedback Online in the future. The last reviews to be finished up were of the wonderful ASR Basis Exclusive phono equalizer and ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue amplifier (above). I'm still in withdrawal after their departure - wonderful... Read More »

The last time Ron stopped by it was a real treat to listen to his vintage Harmon-Kardon Citation II and Citation V amplifiers, as well as his beautiful deHavilland 50A mono amps (new at the time). Man what a day we had listening to those fine amps! It was a Hi-Fi celebration! Harmon-Kardon Citation II... Read More »

Mark Coles of Sablon Audio fame has developed a new power cord in his Corona product line: the Quantum Gran Corona. Here's what Mark told me about the Quantum Gran Corona: With the quantum power cord, I have thrown every tweak I know at the existing Gran Corona design to create an ultimate statement cord.... Read More »

I'm up early this morning drinking coffee and listening to the Beatles' Rubber soul LP from the new box set through the Sophia Electric 91-03 300B integrated amplifier. Particularly considering the 91-03 hasn't even been playing for an hour, its sounding really good. Very natural, sweet, and musical. Today Pete Riggle & Stephaen Harrell (6Moons) are coming over to... Read More »

As most of you know, the Sophia Electric 91-01 300B mono amplifiers that I reviewed for Positive Feedback Online back in January of 2011 reignited my interest in SET amplification, because they made incredibly beautiful music with my Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers. Richard Wugang, the President of Sophia Electric, just sent me a... Read More »

I've been working hard on writing up listening impressions for the review of Friedrich Schaefer's ASR Basis Exclusive phono equalizer over the weekend, and I thought I'd take a moment to give you a little behind the scenes glimpse about my interim thoughts and how things are going. In case you haven't been following along,... Read More »

All around cool guy and Editor of Positive Feedback Online, Dave Clark, just sent me an e-mail about the new Beta Positive Feedback Exchange buy, sell, trade, and discussion site and asked me if I'd help get the word out. Dave and David over at PFO are great guys, and through the Exchange site they're trying to... Read More »

As I mentioned in my last post on upcoming reviews, the Fab Four of Mhdt Labs: Mouse, Horse, Dog, and Tiger, sent me their Stockholm V2 USB DAC to review for Positive Feedback Online. As you know, I've reviewed both the Mhdt Labs Paradisea+ and Havana for Positive Feedback Online, and I've really liked what I've heard. You... Read More »

Happy Sunday everyone!  😀 Here's what's in my current review queue and what you can expect to see reviewed at Positive Feedback Online in the future. Next in the queue is the ASR Basis Exclusive phono equalizer that is the matching equalizer for the ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue amplifier just reviewed at Positive... Read More »

This Saturday morning I was up at 4:30 AM getting ready to start the review process for the ASR Basis Exclusive phono equalizer. Now that's dedication! Reviewing is a long process of equipment setup, comparative listening to other components, listening for enjoyment, shooting photos, and writing (and re-writing) articles. I repeat the process until I... Read More »